The Mistake
by thisisnotreal123
Summary: Uses spoilers and may be a tad AU


**Tad AU, I know and there's hints at spoilers too. Probably a tad unfeasible and had major plot holes but I hope you enjoy it all the same. Oh, and I don't own any of the rights because if I did, there would be no need for this story. **

Ruth rolled over; hoping that more sleep would get rid of the headache she seemed to have acquired over night when she realised she wasn't alone in the bed. "What on earth are you doing in my bed? Get out! NOW!"

*The previous day*

Ruth was never one for socialising but this surgical conference was big on getting people networking. Typical American hoo-hah she thought, she'd done well enough in her career so far without having to network to get ahead. In her mind, this networking malarkey was just a way of people who weren't able to get ahead on their own merit finding people who they would be able to sleep their way up with. Still, she hadn't been able to come up with a decent reason not to come down and socialise when the woman in the room next door had knocked on her door and told her to come down and enjoy the evening so that was why she found herself in the bar at the Venetian hotel in Las Vegas. That's right. Ruth Winters was at a surgical conference in Las Vegas of all places. She'd arrived the day before and had already thrown herself into every seminar and lecture she could, if only to minimise the amount of time she had to do exactly what she was doing at this precise moment - talking to people she didn't know wearing the same dress she'd worn to Adam and Jess' wedding (she convinced herself that the amount she'd spent on it meant she would have to bring it to get some wear out of it) and high heeled shoes that were impractical to the extreme but Ruth secretly loved them and knew she'd find some other time to wear them again after this night. The evening's only saving grace was that there was an open bar and the alcohol she'd already consumed was speeding up the evening marginally although it didn't make the current conversation she was having about the use of Polyglycolide versus Polydioxanone for stitches any more interesting with what's his name - Billy, Brian - no it was Ben. Looking for an opening to leave the conversation, she noticed her glass was empty and excused herself to go to the bar to get another cocktail. She never usually drank this much - the last time she had, it was because Alice had switched hers and Kelsey's drinks at the latter's leaving party - but the constant socialising made Ruth nervous, something she wasn't very good at coping with so the free booze came in very useful.

Looking around the room, she obviously wasn't the only one who was taking advantage of the free alcohol - most of the people were already worse for wear and it was only 11 o'clock. Still, she wasn't one to talk; she could feel the alcohol taking effect as her usual prim self was gradually replaced with a more spontaneous one. That's why she found herself wandering towards the casino. Goodness knows why: she had never gambled in her life and still thought it was a stupid waste of money. However, she found herself drunkenly trying to operate a slot machine when a man in jeans and a t-shirt sat down next to her. She recognised his face but the amount of drink she'd had meant that she couldn't put a name to the face.

"This machine isn't working. It isn't giving me any money." Ruth said to the man, pouting and whining slightly as the alcohol was taking effect more with every minute.

The man next to her was obviously quite drunk too and laughed with her at her predicament. "Let me try," he said. Sure enough, when he pulled the lever, tokens started tumbling out of the machine.

"We're rich!" they both exclaimed at the same time before collapsing in fits of giggles.

"We need to go collect our winnings!" the man said as they walked towards the counter with the chips.

"You guys hit the jackpot!" the clerk said in the false happy tone that Ruth found so infuriating, even with the alcohol she'd drunk. "You've just won a million bucks!"

"A million bucks? Really? We're rich!" the man said as he picked Ruth up and swung her around.

"What are you doing? Stop it!" Ruth exclaimed, slightly embarrassed but secretly loving the spontaneity and affection from this recognisable stranger. It reminded her of Jay.

"I don't even know your name," Ruth said as the man put her down.

"Jamshid and you?"

"Ruth."

"That's a pretty name. A girl I once knew was called Ruth."

"Oh."

"She broke my heart cos she's a heartbreaker." Jamshid then broke into a rendition of Heartbreaker by Cheryl Cole.

Ruth had never been so embarrassed - she'd realised midway through the song why the man was so recognisable. He WAS Jay. How could she have been so stupid? She'd overheard him saying to Tess he needed a week off to go on a stag holiday with some mates of his from outside work. There was only one thing she could do - tell him the truth and hope he'd be happy to let her walk away without having a huge argument first.

"Jamshid…Jay, I am that Ruth."

"No you're not, why would my Ruth be in Las Vegas?"

"I'm on a surgical conference."

"No, you're in a casino and drunk - my Ruth would never do that."

Ruth realised Jay evidently hadn't got over the breakup as well as she hoped he would. It had been 5 months since she told him the truth about their child. He hadn't spoken to her much outside of the necessary clinical conversations they needed to have at work but he'd seemed to get over her well. After all, wasn't he dating that girl Katie? He'd barely even thanked her when she revealed the truth about the clinical trial and saved his job.

"Jay, why don't I just go? You can have all the money." Ruth turned around and started to walk away.

"No." Jay said as he grabbed her wrist to stop her.

"But I hurt you so badly. You hate me."

"I could never hate you Ruth. I love you." The last sentence slipped out - almost like he didn't mean to say it.

"Jay, we're drunk. We're not going to remember this in the morning. Why don't we go back to our rooms, sleep on this and talk about it tomorrow."

"Okay."

As they walked back up towards the lift to go up to their rooms, they passed by the wedding chapel. Jay convinced Ruth to sneak into the back - he'd always enjoyed going to weddings and seeing couples on the happiest day of their lives. Ruth had to admit for Las Vegas weddings, they were classy. The sort of wedding she'd always wanted. 'No, stop thinking like that- it's the drink.'

"Come on Jay, we've seen 3 weddings - let's get to bed."

"No, let's get married."

"What?"

"You heard me. Come on, we still have half an hour before the clerk's office closes to get a license."

"Jay, we need to talk about us first. Come on - you can sleep in my room." Ruth knew she would never do this sober but seeing how vulnerable Jay looked she couldn't bear to let him go back to his room alone.

"But I want to marry you!" Jay replied as Ruth took his arm and started walking towards the lifts.

"We can do it tomorrow when we're sober and can remember our wedding!" Ruth wasn't sure why she said it, she wouldn't seriously marry Jay in a shotgun wedding when they hadn't even formally got back together, would she?

"Promise?"

"Of course."

They drunkenly stumbled into the lift and eventually managed to press the right button for Ruth's floor on the third attempt - they were sure that the buttons kept on moving around. Unlike after the surgeons' dinner, it was Jay who kissed Ruth in the lift, so tenderly that after Ruth questioned herself momentarily whether it had actually happened but she didn't press him to take it further - she was still astonished that Jay still cared about her and she didn't want to wreck it - though that didn't explain why they then were more than happy to fall asleep in each others' arms after removing all but their underwear. The amount of alcohol they had consumed meant that they quickly fell into a deep sleep.

Ruth woke up to the sight of sunlight streaming through the windows and a pounding headache. She rolled over; hoping that more sleep would get rid of the headache she seemed to have acquired over night when she realised she wasn't alone in the bed. "What on earth are you doing in my bed? Get out! NOW!"

Jay woke up with a look of pure panic in his eyes seeing that he was sharing a bed with none other than Ruth Winters.

"Ruth, what are you doing in Vegas and why am I here? What happened?"

"I'm on a conference but I don't know why you're in my room." Jay could tell that Ruth was just as scarred as he was at the thought of what could have happened in the foggy patch in both their memories.

"Well, let's work this through logically. What's the last thing you remember?" Jay asked, trying to calm her down as much as himself.

"I err … I don't know." Ruth started sobbing at the reality of her situation. "I remember going to the hotel bar after Ms Busybody next door forced me to socialise. I remember being bored by some American I-know-everything surgeon and deciding to go over and see what a real casino looks like. But I can't remember anything after that." Ruth's shoulders started shaking as she sobbed.

"Hey, it's okay. Look, I can't really remember anything past sitting down by a slot machine next to a brunette woman - that must have been you - but I'm sure we could go and ask security if we could look at the CCTV from last night. I mean I'm sure there's nothing to worry about - we are still clothed so whatever happened can't have been too bad."

They got out of the bed simultaneously before collecting their clothes they'd left on the floor the previous night. Ruth put the dress back on the hanger and changed into trousers and a shirt - she didn't really have any casual clothes given she was in Las Vegas for a conference. They made a quick detour to Jay's room so he could get washed and put his mates' minds at rest before heading down to reception to ask about seeing the security footage but they were in for a shock.

"Oh it's you two." The receptionist said with a grin as they approached the desk. Ruth felt dread growing in her stomach at this.

"You forgot to collect your winnings last night."

"Our winnings?" They both asked.

"Yes, don't you remember? You won $1 000 000 last night on the slot machines. First one we've ever had here."

"Oh. Well, erm as you've probably realised we were erm slightly worse for wear last night and we were wondering if we would be able to look at the security footage to jog our memories." Ruth said.

The receptionist's face fell. "We're not allowed to grant guests that right but well, staff were looking for you last night when you didn't come back to collect your winnings after an hour so they all had to give statements so we could work out where you'd gone so I can tell you after you won the money, you witnessed 3 weddings before going up to room 213."

"My room." The relief in Ruth's voice was palpable.

They knew they had got all they were ever going to get out of the receptionist so decided to go over to the dining room for a late breakfast. In order to do so, they had to walk by the wedding chapel. Both stopped as they walked past the entrance as they remembered snippets from the previous evening - Ruth remembering promising Jay to marry him today and Jay remembered the look on Ruth's face as one of the couples were pronounced man and wife - the look he'd seen countless times on her face in the ED when a happy couple walked in it was obvious they would care for each other through thick and thin. He knew that she desperately wanted that but she thought that the only thing she was good at was her work - relationships in her family never worked (without exception). Neither mentioned their flashbacks until they had ordered their food.

"I err, I just had this really weird flashback on the way here. You're going to think this completely ridiculous but erm … I don't know how to put this but I can remember … well I can remember you proposing to me and I err said yes." Ruth said, tripping over words and evidently scarred of Jay's reaction to her memory.

"Really?" Ruth nodded her head.

"Well, I happened to have had my own flashback. See, I can remember being in the wedding chapel and you looking so - well I don't know how to describe it - but you looked so much like you wanted to get married."

"Really?" Ruth said seriously before giggling at the realisation that she was echoing Jay.

"Really."

"Well, where do we go from here? We're engaged but not together and a million dollars richer."

"Sounds ridiculous doesn't it?"

"Yeah but we are in Las Vegas." They both started laughing.

"Oh I miss this," Jay said.

"Me too."

"I never thanked you, did I? For saving my job. I know it took a lot to go against Fairfax."

"It was the right thing to do."

There was an awkward silence before Jay piped up, "so this one million dollars - we collect it from reception then what? Lose it all on the black jack?"

"Oh, tempting but I'm sure there's better ways to waste it."

"Really - what do you suggest Dr Winters?"

"Well, I'm sure I could spend my share on clothes and jewellery and you need to save yours for a new flat."

"But that's so boring, Ruth, come on and live a little - I promise you'll love it."

They eventually agreed to disagree and Ruth took part of her share on a shopping spree whilst Jay upgraded both their rooms to inter-connecting penthouse apartments. They met up every day, sharing anecdotes of what they'd done and the crazy things they'd only ever see in Vegas and spent most evenings having movie and ice-cream marathons. On the morning of their last day, Jay came into Ruth's room to find her gazing forlornly out of the window onto the Vegas Strip. Jay's friends had already left to go the airport but as Jay had upgraded his and Ruth's tickets to first class, he'd had the option of a later flight, which he'd taken.

"Hey Ruth, what's up?" Jay asked as he walked over to her.

"Nothing."

"Come on, it's obvious that something's bugging you."

"Promise me you'll let me talk without jumping to conclusions or interrupting me and that you won't be angry."

"I'll try." The memory of the last time Ruth had made an admission to him still weighed on his mind.

"I know it's ridiculous but it's just that when you proposed, I found myself wishing you really meant it and now I'm just scarred I'll never have that opportunity with someone again - to have the opportunity to get married and have someone there for you every day."

"Ruth, look at me. I may have been drunk but I meant it. Okay we may not have had the most stable of relationships but I would do anything for you and what you did with Fairfax proved to me you'd do the same. I've spent all week wondering how to tell you I meant what I'd said that evening without scarring you. I'd marry you now if you wanted."

"Really?"

"Of course. Do you want to?"

Ruth nodded her head tentatively.

"That solves it then. We have until 4 this afternoon so how bout you go into town and get a dress then we'll go get a license and get married."

"I already have a dress." Ruth smiled nervously, "I mean it's not a wedding dress but it's the dress I wore to Adam and Jess' wedding and that night we won the money. I had it dry-cleaned yesterday and it was packing it this morning that got me thinking…"

"…about the proposal?"

"Yeah."

As it was, the clerk's office was relatively empty so they were able to get one within half an hour. The hotel had also been able to fit them in for midday. Although they didn't have much time, Jay had managed to nip out and get a bouquet of white roses, a matching set of wedding bands and rent a tux for himself. Ruth admitted one of the reasons she wanted to get married in a small ceremony was because she wouldn't need to be reminded of how useless her family were so they minimised the amount of wedding traditions they went through. Jay had of course already seen Ruth that day and they walked up the aisle together. Nevertheless, Jay found it hard to take his eyes off Ruth and found himself welling up several times during the short ceremony. Surprisingly, Ruth was also emotional during the ceremony and nearly forgot her vows and had to prompted by the registrar to finish them correctly. Their wedding package they had chosen included a photo album, which they picked up after their wedding meal of very expensive spaghetti bolognaise at the Valentino restaurant in the hotel.

Before they knew it, they were on the way to the airport in the back of their complementary chauffeur driven car.

"You know, I'm going to have to get a new passport now thanks to today's activities, Jay," Ruth said.

"Really?" Jay asked, realising the implications of her statement.

"Yes really, the sooner I get rid of all trace of the link to my useless brother and father the better and replace them with links to the kindest, most handsome and loving man I know the better."

Jay didn't allow her to carry on speaking as he covered her lips with his own in a searing kiss but they were prevented from it getting too heated by their arrival at the airport.

*2 days later*

It was Ruth and Jay's first day back at work since they'd got back from Las Vegas. The previous day had been spent moving Jay's stuff from his room at his Nan's to Ruth's. It had been exhausting but by the end of the day everything had been unpacked and been given a place in their home. To say his Nan and sisters had been surprised when Jay had arrived home announcing he was moving in with his wife would have been an understatement but they'd all helped move Jay's stuff and seemed to have accepted Ruth into their family.

Arriving at work the following day, Ruth had seemingly lost her inhibitions about being seen with Jay although because their colleagues had last seen them when they had most definitely not been an item, not many people took much notice and thought it merely a coincidence. That was until mid way through shift when both Ruth and Jay were called into Recuss to deal with the casualties of an RTA. As they were dealing with two patients they were constantly having to change gloves. This meant it was only a matter of time before someone noticed the new pieces of jewellery they were both wearing and that person was May.

"Yuki, look at Nurse Faldren and Dr Winters' hands. What do you see?" May whispered, trying to be discreet.

"Err, well they both gloved up. Both look normal to me." Yuki whispered back in the same tone.

"No, look closer, look at their left hands - _ring_ finger."

"Like I said, gloved … they're both wearing wedding rings." Although Yuki had tried to be discreet, Jay had been able to overhear most of the conversation even if the rest of the doctors and nurses in the room hadn't.

"Dr Phelps and Dr Reid, a little more attention to your patients and a little less attention to Dr Faldren's and my hands please." Jay said, leaving the rest of the team dumbfounded.


End file.
